Steve-O grew up listening to his mom's Beatles and Three Dog Night albums in the seventies. As a teenager in the eighties, he started buying his own records (remember those?) and loving the Eurythmics and the Clash.
At the University of Wisconsin, he majored in Broadcasting Technology and Management. He spent his weekends running a mobile DJ service called the Power Company in order to pay for classes and stay out of debt. He was also host of an "alternative" radio show playing bands like Depeche Mode and They Might be Giants, all the while interviewing many of the up-and-coming artists as Features Editor for the school newspaper.
While his classmates did internships at local radio and television stations, Steve-O decided to spend a summer with Disney/MGM Studios Florida. This gave him the opportunity to work for television shows like Star Search, Full House, and various tv specials for MTV and the up-and-coming Comedy Central. He also spent a lot of time backstage at the Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Muppets attractions. His favorite job was volunteering as a towel boy for the Supermodel of the World bikini competition on location at the Disney resorts, but seeing Princess Diana and Michael Jackson in person were also highlights.
Steve-O also did a second internship, working for a young Fox television network during the era of Beverly Hills 90210, the X-Files, and a relatively new cartoon called the Simpsons.
Upon graduation, Steve-O spent a decade in Springfield, Missouri. He was responsible for sound design on a number of stations including Channel Z and the Edge (alternative rock), Alice (pop), US-97 (rock), and even a country station (My Country). Ironically, Steve-O loves nearly every type of music EXCEPT country.
After a brief stint in Omaha, Nebraska (signing on a "party rock" station called the Brew) Steve-O wound up in the epicenter of American radio JACK-FM in Kansas City.